Guest blogger Isma Aslam is a sophomore at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York,  majoring in English and minoring in Arabic Language and Religion.  She grew up in Bronx, New York amid great ethnic and religious diversity and volunteered time during high school teaching Qur’an in Arabic to children.  At Vassar, Isma is active in the Vassar Islamic Society and the Inter-Religious Council. She spent the summer of 2008 teaching both English and the reading and recitation of the Qur’an in Pakistan.

My mother’s constant complaints of the sudden rise in price of most cooking ingredients and food at the nearby South Asian/halal  grocery stores marks the upcoming month of Ramadan.  My mother will go to the South Asian grocery stores daily, check which ingredients she will need for the following month and then watch the prices soar. Even though she resents the inflation, her happiness and anticipation is evident.  We are all energized by simply knowing that the special and blessed month is approaching, and the beginning of Ramadan has always been the most exciting. Preparing for the month recently became a huge, yet still very rewarding, responsibility for me.

 

Preparation for Ramadan usually means making several trips to the grocery store, keeping up with a mosque that can confirm when the month will begin, and watching out for the moon. It is usually the last week of Shaban, the eighth month of the Islamic calendar, when my mother pays the grocery stores multiple visits and fills the cabinets, fridge, and freezer with all the essential ingredients and materials. Also, since the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar year, we always watch out for the moon on the last day of Shaban to see if it is indeed the last day of Shaban, or if there is still one more day to go before the start of Ramadan. The new month begins with the new moon.  My family spends most of the night calling the local mosques, anticipating the conformation of the first day of Ramadan.

 

Since I left home to attend Vassar College, preparing for Ramadan has affected me more directly. Last year, Ramadan preparations were especially tense for my mother; she was no longer just shopping for things needed around the house, but was now also shopping for me. She gave me ingredients  to cook for myself at school, which was her way of letting me know that I wouldn’t be missing out on the food that I would eat at home during Sehri (meal before sunrise) and Iftar (meal when breaking fast). I became more involved in helping my mom shop and put in the effort to learn how to cook (or rather, fry, since most of what I prepared for my Iftar was fried except for one dish). Even though my mother provided me with as much as she could to last me the whole month, I inevitably ran out; from then on, I had to try my best to manage with food from my cafeteria for Sehri and Iftar. It was hard with my dietary restrictions and just overall being picky, but I managed. My college experience away from home really taught me firsthand how my mother prepares for the month, and what I will eventually have to do take care of myself.

 

Preparing for Ramadan has become more than just watching my mom shop, hearing her complaints, and repeatedly calling the mosque for confirmation. Instead, it has become a time for learning and personal growth. I now feel the weight of responsibility since I live on campus, which is what makes the work all the more rewarding in the end—knowing that I successfully got through Ramadan despite the absence of my family. Of course I miss sitting with my parents and siblings and breaking fast together as a family, but the transition in Ramadan preparations has been a truly transformational and educational experience for me, and I am glad I experienced it.